Just Linking: January 11, 2008
Boy, am I behind the times! Carrie’s got her own domain now, go check out the new Life is Like a Mountain Railway and see the progress of her spending freeze (and the coming addition!).
I also want to introduce Karen, who blogs at Mommy Gets Dressed, the real life wardrobe journal of a mostly stay-at-home mom of toddlers.
While I was over there lamenting with her about the time it takes to shop, the subject of online shopping came up. Which leads me to announcing the shoes.com monthly Saturday sale. I am, however, waiting for these.
Have a great weekend!
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A DIY Fashion Lab
I’m trying to get back to a more regular posting schedule, including Fashion Labs on Fridays. Any what to wear questions on your mind? You, too, can be a model for a future fashion lab and benefit from the input of others. Drop me a line. 
Ever since Vildy told me about Brenda Kinsel’s body proportion principles, I’ve been a cow. That is, I’ve been ruminating on the idea of the four zones. Grab your measuring tape, here’s how it works:
Zone 1: Top of face (I think this must need to be top of head/hair) to top of chest, approximately armpit. (Mine = 14)
Zone 2: Armpit to … legpit. That is, the break in the leg, aka the hip socket. (Mine = 18)
Zone 3: Hip socket to mid-knee. (Mine = 15)
Zone 4: Mid-knee to floor. (Mine = 18)
(Somewhere in the imprecision of self measuring, I lost 3/4 of an inch!)
In reality, this ends up being very close to taking two of the head lengths I have talked about before at a time, but the application is slightly different. Brenda Kinsel suggests considering each zone as a room in a house. The larger the room, the more furniture (line breaks, detailing, embellishments, bells and whistles) you can put in there. Which explains why I don’t want jeans that hug the thigh, tapering in at the knee; they just emphasize how short I am in that zone.
This has also got me thinking alot about tops, and just in time too! More on this to come, but for now:
- Is anybody long in zone 1? If so, do you by chance have a more glamorous style, using more jewelry and accessories than most? I’m feeling justified in liking to keep things simple in that “room” in my house.
- What is your “biggest room” and how have you already been filling it? For example, with my long torso I can easily wear short jackets (inches above the hip socket) which are fitted at the waist (the change of line direction has the opposite effect of a straight vertical line), even belted with pockets.
- Can you think of ways to “borrow” space from one zone for the other? I just realized why it doesn’t really matter if my jeans are skinny, straight, or wide, just as long as the line is unbroken from hip to floor: that is effectively “borrowing” from my length in zone 4 to add to zone 3.
This is going to have a huge impact on my wardrobe! How about you?
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Shop Your Lunch Hour
Shopping on your lunch hour, if you work downtown, can be a great way to get out of the office, get some exercise, and get something accomplished. Tomorrow, however, you can shop your lunch hour for some great deals without ever leaving your desk. Or while the kiddos nap.
Not only that, but in the same email: $5 Belts at Wilsons Leather - Hurry While Supplies Last! I have not found the $5 belts yet, perhaps the markdown is scheduled for tomorrow, but there are some good options currently priced at $10.20.
How about this one for me?
In addition to some great deals on accessories (gloves anyone?), they have quite a few $35 leather coats. This one decidedly falls in the leisure lifestyle category, no matter how cute it is.
(And it comes in x-small!)
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to suggest an outfit (or two or three) featuring either of these items.
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Six Levels of Casual
According to Sherry Maysonave, in her book Casual Power,
Her categories:
- Active Casual,
- Rugged Casual (also called “outdoorsy”),
- Sporty Casual (sportswear which is not athletic, but street wear),
- Smart Casual (or “snappy”),
- Dressy Casual,
- and Business Casual
How does this correspond with my lifestyle segments? The first three are what I consider leisure, the second set of three fall into the casual category.
Leisure = The least formal. Includes all athletic-wear and shorts. Jeans are usually leisure, and always when worn with athletic shoes, message t-shirts, and sweatshirts (including polar fleece).
Casual = Nicer, but still fairly relaxed. Due to geographical variations, I prefer to not define this category too precisely. Lunch with your boss, your pastor, or your grandma requires casual clothing. Business casual fits here.
If my career depended on it, which it would if I aspired to a career, I would define casual more … definitively. But on the other hand, why would I need to? We could all just read the book.
In the meantime, let’s discuss:
- which category of casual might be under-represented in your wardrobe? I know I presently need jeans (bottoms in the sport casual or everyday leisure category), but not as badly as I need smart casual winter tops.
- which category do you wish people would get straight? Or which do you see the most mistakes in? Prior to my hero’s company issuing a new dress code policy, I was seeing alot of active casual (athletic footwear especially) worn to the office.
- does this inspire any style goals or improvements? Living in the Great Northwest, I envision a snappy rugged casual (outdoor leisure) look to replace wearing grubbies or active casual (athletic wear) for dog-walking.
And finally, is it helpful to distinguish between the six levels?
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Your Best Blusher Color
Try this tip from an ancient magazine clipping:
your best shade of red - and a marvelous choice for a blusher - is the color you see when you pinch your fingertip
(I keep trying, but so far I’m not seeing a red.)
Also, remember this tip from readers here:
choose your red lipstick to match the color of your lips when chapped
Any other simple makeup tips to share?
Spare Change? Change Your Look! All e.l.f. Cosmetics Just $1.
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I’m Okay Now, But Yesterday Was Really Bad
Whenever I see a blogger write an apology-for-not-posting post, I always think, “well, it’s her blog, she shouldn’t have to apologize … and probably nobody cares anyway”. Well, I know the nobody caring part is not strictly true. But you know what I mean.
I wish I knew exactly what happened. I think it was something like this:
shoveling snow + time + shopping for upholstered furniture (lots of sitting and standing) + more time + holding open the back hatch on the Jeep while furniture is being loaded + time on an ice pack + a long walk wearing my Sorels = serious lower back blowout!
I’m not certain when the last time I posted was, but I intentionally took a few days off to spend extra time with my husband at New Years. Time we spent furniture shopping. Wednesday morning, though, he went back to work; I was back to my normal routine. Or so I thought. It became painfully obvious, when I sat down in the car to drive to the nail salon for a fill Wednesday morning, that it was not a good idea for me to go anywhere alone. Yesterday (Thursday) it took me until two o’clock in the afternoon to make it to the bathroom.
Thanks to ice and two ibuprofen every five hours, today I have achieved such major accomplishments as: getting dressed while it was still dark out (if yoga pants count), making it to the bathroom on my own multiple times, a shower (although I have yet to attempt washing the hair), and washing a few dishes. Not to mention some reading and several naps.
Sometime on Wednesday I updated my facebook status and this is really the first time I’ve been online since. I’ve got lots of what-to-wear-and-why ideas going around in my head, though.
Now that I’m off to sit on an ice pack again, what have you been up to this year?
